Five hundred young women received a clear message that an entrepreneurial mindset isn't just for those aiming to start their own business at the First Lady of California Maria Shriver's Minerva Leadership Program  earlier this week.

Accomplished businesswomen, celebrities including Vanessa Williams, and Samantha Larson, the youngest person to ever climb all "Seven Summits," came together to discuss the professional and spiritual empowerment that comes from "being your own boss" every day of your life.  Among the topics raised were whether college should come right after high school and how long it should take to finish.  College seemed the most practical route after high school graduation, said Larson, but she ended up taking a year to train and climb Mt. Everest, which she did last year at age 18 and is now in her first year at Stanford. Senior executive vice president of Wachovia Corporation, Shannon McFayden, talked about how there is no shame in going through college a little slower to better afford it because, just like every entrepreneur, every woman has a different set of environmental and financial circumstances.

"I do think to be successful in whatever your chosen path is, having an entrepreneurial mindset makes all the difference in the world," McFayden said.  "An entrepreneurial mindset is thinking to yourself, I'm going to change everyday for the good, instead of letting things just sit and happen because it's somebody else's company."

The Minerva Leadership Program sessions were held at another one of Maria Shriver's projects, The California Women's Conference , where the young women heard from Nobel Peace Prize-winning social entrepreneur Muhammad Ynus, Nobel Peace Prize-winning journalist Thomas Friedman, former Prime Minister Tony Blair, the wives of five presidential candidates and many more. Videos from the conference are available on the California Women's Conference website.